MIDTERMS 2022: Republicans pick up their first win in GUAM

Republicans took an early scalp in the as early results indicated Guam voted for its first delegate to Congress since 1993.

Republican Sen. James Moylan defeated former Speaker Judi Won Pat in the delegate race in the U.S. territory in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the reported. 

The local news outlet reported that Moylan was ahead of 1,648 his opponent Judi Won Pat. Moylan had 17,075 votes and Won Pat had 15,427 as of Wednesday morning. 

Guam’s delegate to Congress is non-voting — so the win is more symbolic than impactful in Congress — but Moylan will be only the second Republican sent to Washington D.C. by the island since the position was created in 1972.

Voters said that crime, the economy and the recovery from the COVID pandemic were among the top concerns at the ballots — including ongoing questions about the island’s political representation in D.C.

Military issues are also a key factor for residents because of the U.S. Naval and Link Slot Gacor Air Force bases. 

In the last delegate election in 2020, the Republican candidate attracted just 21 percent of the 28,293 people on the island who voted, according to the Guam Electoral Commission. 

In other races the island’s Democratic governor held on by 11 points and Democrats gained a seat in the legislature. 

Guam is ‘where America’s Day Begins’, is 11 hours ahead of Eastern Time and has a population of 153,836.

Moylan had trailed in exit polls recorded earlier Tuesday by , which was within the margin of error.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich celebrated Moylan’s victory as the ‘first GOP win of 2022’, and said there was ‘a lot more to come’. 

The GOP said on Twitter: ‘Congratulations to Guam Republican James Moylan for becoming the next delegate to the United States Congress. Guam hasn’t sent a Republican to Congress since 1993.’

The results from Guam represented the first of the night in the midterms.

Polls start to close on the East Coast at 6pm and results will come in through the night.

Projections have Republicans taking a decisive majority in the House while the Senate is still on a knife-edge with key races in Arizona, New Hampshire, Georgia and Pennsylvania going down to the wire. 

More than 3.5 million people live in the U.S. territories that include Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The Congressional delegates can serve on committees but can’t vote on any legislation. Island residents also cannot vote in the presidential election.

Voters are generally most concerned about the island’s political status and military issues.

But voters heading to the polls on Tuesday also said that the rise in crime is one of the biggest worries.

We need the neighborhood patrol, but also the home invasions have to stop,’ resident David Taitano Guerrero told the . ‘We just have to be careful when we get out of our cars.’